30 American Midland Naturalist Monograph No. 4 



smooth or becoming shreddy; leaves ^2 to % inch long, linear, pointed at 

 the tips, dark green and shiny above, spreading in two ranks so as to form 



flat sprays; fruit a juicy red berry in 

 the form of a fleshy cup surrounding 

 a single smooth straw-colored seed. 

 The fine, close-grained wood is very 

 hard and durable, yet flexible. It 

 was used by the Indians for their 

 bows. 



Western yew is principally a 

 northern species, found usually along 

 streams or in cool shady canyons. 

 It attains tree size in the humid 

 northwest in Olympic National Park. 



Occurrence. — OLYMPIC, common along 

 streams: above Olympic Hot Springs; 

 Lake Crescent. MOUNT RAINIER, common 

 up to 3,500 feel: north Puyallup River 

 road; near Ohanapecosh Hot Springs; 

 Nisqually Valley. CRATER LAKE, rare: 

 Redblanket Canyon, in southwest corner 

 Fig. 2. Western yew (Taxus brevifoUa). of park. GLACIER, common on the west 



side. 3,100 to 5.000 feet: Lake McDon- 

 ald; Sperry trail; St. Mary Lake; upper Waterton valley along trail to Fifty Moun- 

 tain Camp. 



2. Canada Yew (Taxus canadensis Marsh). — Low shrub with straggly 

 spreading stems; leaves and fruits similar to western yew except for the seed 

 which is broader than long. Yew was very abundant on Isle Royale until 

 it became badly overbrowsed by the moose. 



Occurrence. — ISLE ROYALE, abundant en outlying islands where moose have not been 

 in any considerable numbers: Moit Island; Smithwick Island; Wright Island; Passage 

 Island. 



Cypress Family (Cupressaceae) 



Juniper, Cedar (Juniperus L.) 



Field Guide to the Spec;es 



Leaves very short and scale-like, appressed to the branches; occurs in northern 



Rocky Mountains - 1. /. horizonlalis. 



Leaves J/2 to % inch long, awl-shaped, spreading; widespread in the parks 



2. /. communrs. 



1. Creeping Cedar (Juniperus horizontalis Moench.). — Low evergreen 

 creeping shrub with spreading prostrate stems sometimes 15 feet long; leaves 

 small, scale-like, overlapping and appressed to the cord-like branches; berries 

 round, about I/4 to 1/2 inch in diameter, dark blue when ripe, coated with a 

 whitish bloom, 1- to 3 -seeded. 



This species forms dense carpets on rocks and flats where it is found, 



